Black-Eyed Children, What Are They?

Let’s face it, the internet was made for stories like that of the black-eyed children. When not obsessed with cat videos or the latest Trump tweet, the internet is tailor made for the creepy and strange stories we love so much.

The black-eyed children, also sometimes called the black-eyed kids, are different though. As you investigate the phenomenon you get a distinct sense that there’s something more going on here. It’s different from your typical creepypasta fodder because, as we’ll learn here, it owes its beginnings to very real events from very credible people.

Who or what are these black-eyed children? Are they spirits, vampires, aliens or maybe something else altogether? Whatever they are, you’ll find common threads amongst all the stories.

Firstly they are usually children between the ages of 6 to 16. More often than not they travel in pairs and are usually male, although females have been reported. The creepy trick part here is when the show up they are usually trying to get in where they don’t belong. They’ll often appear on doorsteps asking to be let in to the house, using excuses like they need to call their parents or they need shelter. They’ve appeared to motorists asking for rides or on pathways asking for help.

It’s commonly believed that they can’t enter wherever you are without your permission, so they’ll just keep asking.

They are absolutely relentless and very rarely take no for an answer. People who have interacted with black-eyed children often report that they felt an incredible dread and uncontrollable fear wash over them.

But above all else, their most distinctive feature are the eyes. Completely black on black with no white in the socket at all. Hence the clever, if not completely original, name.

When confronted with the black-eyed children it seems best to either get away from them as quickly as possible or shed as much light as you can, they tend to shy away from the light.

While what the black-eyed children are exactly is still unknown, we do have a good idea of what may be our first experiences with them.

Perhaps the first and most famous recorded encounter comes from American journalist Brian Bethel. In January 1998 Bethel posted on an online messageboard, describing in detail his experience with a pair of creepy children with solid black eyes.

It happened on a warm night in 1996. Bethel needed to pay his internet bill, so he was writing a cheque in his car.

“There was a knock on my driver’s side window,” Bethel says. “Two young boys, somewhere between nine to 12 years old and dressed in hooded pullovers, stood outside.

“I cracked the window a bit, anticipating a spiel for money, but I was immediately gripped by an incomprehensible, soul-wracking fear. I had no idea why.”

One of the boys asked Bethel for a ride. They wanted to see a movie, but had left their money at their mother’s house.

While Bethel mulled it over, the boy tried to reassure him.

“It wouldn’t take long. They were just two little kids. They didn’t have a gun or anything.”

The reporter looked away for a moment. When Bethel’s gaze returned to the children, his mind “exploded in a vortex of all-consuming terror”.

“Both boys stared at me with coal-black eyes. The sort of eyes one sees these days on aliens or bargain-basement vampires on late night television. Soulless orbs like two great swathes of starless night.”

As Bethel rolled up his window, one of the boys banged on the glass, saying “we can’t come in unless you tell us it’s OK. Let us in!”

Then the journalist drove away.

Bethel is of course just the first of many to describe similar encounters. There are dozens of credible witnesses that have come forward to tell their story of black-eyed children and countless more have told their story online.

Reddit user sarabeth11 says she was sitting alone in her family room when there was a light knock at the front door. Two young children were outside – a girl who looked about 11 and a boy who was roughly nine.

“The girl very politely spoke up, ‘Ma’am, can we please come inside and use your phone to call our mom?’ As she spoke something in the pit of my stomach was telling me something was wrong,” Sara says.

After a short exchange, the girl moved towards the door.

“She stepped into the light coming from inside the house and I got my first real good look at her. Solid, jet black eyes – that’s all I could see. That motherly instinct was gone and replaced by terror I don’t think I’ve ever felt in my life,” Sara says.

“I could feel every hair on my arms and back of my neck standing at attention. I closed the door to where just my face was able to stick out.

“The little girl stopped and again pleaded, ‘Please Ma’am we’re really scared and alone out here. We HAVE to come inside. Please help us!’ Then, like on cue, both kids began to whimper and cry.”

Another reddit user, aptly named nosleep2012, also claims to have encountered black eyed children on her doorstep.

“She had a voice that was mature, confident, strong, and accentless,” she says. “Her head tilted downward, and I couldn’t see her eyes. ‘We have to use your phone.’ I stood frozen in fear.

“Slowly and silently, I backed away from the door, Lucy (my dog) still cowering at my ankles … she became commanding, almost hostile.

“We’re not going to hurt you. If we wanted to do that, we would have broken in. I’ll ask again. May we come in and use your phone?” the girl said.

“Lucy snarled at the door, and I inched backward, though something inside me seemed to be slowly pulling me back toward the door. It wasn’t a physical pulling so much as a subconscious need to go back and let them in.”

The reddit user says she didn’t go back to sleep that night and hasn’t slept right since.

And then there’s the YouTube channel Fantastic Daily. While they do cover other topics a major focus to the channel is investigating and discovering what they call BEK, black-eyed kids. While some of it is really out there, there’s no denying that the host is certainly convinced that there’s something to all of this. There’s even video footage of a BEK showing up at his door and standing there for few hours. Creepy.

So what can we make from all of this and can any sort of definitive answer be derived yet? Unfortunately no, the black-eyed children are akin to spiritual, creepier versions of Bigfoot. There’s tons of eye witness evidence but very little in the way of practical evidence.

It should be noted however that black-eyed children experiences are increasing with every year so we should at least know what we’re dealing with.

And for the love of all that is good, don’t invite them into your house.